now playing 5-26-05

If you had a band and were looking to name
it, would you choose “Divulsion”? If you said,
“It depends on what kind of music we’re doing,”
then go pick out your prize. From what I can glean from the
Internet, this speed-death-metal combo from Collinsville did a fine
job of name-picking. Compared with the names of similar bands in
their area, they may actually be lacking in the
gross-and-shocking-name department.

On May 14, Divulsion played SlamFest, a
concert of like-minded groups, at the Creepy Crawl, a St. Louis
club. Also on the bill were Chainsaw Homicide and the Animated
Dead, among other, less alarmingly named bands. They are also
featured on a compilation album called Heavycore Civil War: Missouri that features Backhoe Butchery, Scarlet Whore, and,
interestingly enough, two other medically derived names, Apnea and
Tinnitus. I’m hoping that Heavycore’s description of
life — a battle to rid the world of those of us
“posers” who don’t live and breathe speed death metal
— is based in hyperbole. Otherwise, their slogan, “Kick the
posers in the throat,” is somewhat disturbing.

Let’s put aside the obvious shock value
of the band names and the self-punishing culture of tattoos and
body piercings, plus the outright courting of violent behavior, and
look at the music of Divulsion. The band once had two bass players
woven into the average drums-guitar-vocal mix, but it’s now
back to the standard one bass, two-guitar setup. Either way,
I’m sure they lay down the very heavy-duty bottom end
that’s so popular with mosh-pit frequenters and hair-tossing
speed-metal freaks.

Divulsion’s band bios show a common
love of PlayStation, sex, drugs, and alcohol (the drummer and bass
player are also fond of their families). The group claims to be
influenced by such popular acts as Slipknot and Slayer, and that is
easy enough to believe. They certainly have the same desire to
frighten and entertain their audience. I do hope they’re just
kidding on their Web site when they say, “Coming soon to kill
you.”